Even as Miejue's Personal Disciple, Zhou Zhiruo had joined Emei too recently to know what Miejue did as Sect Leader. She had only gone down the mountain with Miejue for the first time.
But since Gu Shaoan had asked, Zhou Zhiruo furrowed her delicate brows and thought carefully.
"I imagine it must be very difficult."
"There are more than a thousand disciples in the Emei Sect. Eldest Senior Sister told me that fourteen years ago, a great villain from the martial world challenged one hundred and eight experts from eight major sects, including Huashan, Kongtong, Shaolin, and Huashan."
"At the time, the dozen or so strongest elders of the Emei Sect accepted the challenge, but not one of them returned."
"When our Grandmaster, Fengling Shitai, heard the news, she was overcome with grief and anger. Before she passed away, she handed the position of Sect Leader to our Master."
"But all the experts in the sect had perished, and the other forces around us saw that Emei was weak. Master had only just taken over as Sect Leader, so they began to harbor designs against us."
"Eldest Senior Sister said that in those years, Master had to lead a sect, keep everyone in line, and deal with the other sects. She was so busy she barely had a moment to rest."
"As soon as she finished dealing with all the affairs within Emei, big and small, she had to rush off again to suppress the forces around us that wanted to rebel, as well as the martial artists causing trouble within Emei's territory."
Gu Shaoan nodded and turned his gaze to the deep night sky, as if he could see through the darkness to the rise and fall of sects and the heavy burden carried by their leaders.
"It's more than difficult. It's like walking a tightrope over a bottomless cliff."
Gu Shaoan's voice dropped. "Fourth Senior Sister, look at our Emei. We've stood for a hundred years, our swords shining bright, our name commanding respect across the southwest. But have you ever thought about what it takes to preserve this legacy, let more than a thousand disciples practice martial arts in peace, and keep troublemakers from causing chaos in Emei's territory?"
Zhou Zhiruo thought for a moment, then answered uncertainly, "Is it because Master and the others are so skilled in martial arts?"
Gu Shaoan shook his head. "That's only part of it."
After a pause, Gu Shaoan continued, "In any force, experts are the blades that protect the sect's safety. But rules are the framework that keeps this enormous system running, the foundation that allows it to endure."
"Without rules, nothing can be done. Once the rules are broken, people lose heart. A thousand-mile dike can collapse because of an ant's nest."
He paused, his tone growing more solemn. "What Ding Minjun did today wasn't merely a matter of making Master angry. She deliberately tried to murder her fellow disciples, and did so after Master had explicitly given an order, with a great enemy before us."
"The hidden weapons she threw at us threatened more than your and my lives. They also challenged the ironclad rules Emei has upheld for a hundred years—the very foundation Master, as Sect Leader, must defend with her life."
Zhou Zhiruo's lips parted slightly, and she unconsciously sat up straighter. Gu Shaoan's words struck her heart like a heavy hammer.
Gu Shaoan turned around and looked at Zhou Zhiruo, his expression grave. "Fourth Senior Sister, imagine this. If Master had considered the twenty years Ding Minjun spent in the sect and the effort she invested in raising her, or taken into account the few contributions she once made..."
"And if Master had indulged such a grave offense—openly betraying her fellow disciples and disregarding her orders—by making light of it and simply imprisoning Ding Minjun or expelling her from the sect, what would happen?"
He didn't wait for Zhou Zhiruo to answer, but continued to lay it out. "First: unfair enforcement and unclear rules."
"If the rules have exceptions, they lose all power to restrain people. Master's authority as Sect Leader would be severely undermined..."
"If she can let Ding Minjun off for deliberately trying to murder her fellow disciples today, how will she punish other disciples who break the rules tomorrow?"
"What would the other disciples think when they saw it? They'd think the rules were applied differently depending on who you were. They'd think twenty years of affection and so-called contributions could make up for betrayal."
"Second: the disciples would turn against one another, and suspicion would take root. You, me, and all the Senior Sisters and Junior Sisters who witnessed what happened today would carry a thorn in our hearts forever: apparently, there was no need to pay a terrible price for trying to murder a fellow disciple."
"Apparently, as long as you had enough 'reasons' and enough 'leverage,' you could trample the sect's rules without facing the harshest consequences."
"If this went on, what would become of the affection between fellow disciples? Could they still trust one another with their backs? Would Emei still be a united sect? It would be nothing but a place of infighting, outwardly glorious but inwardly full of people plotting against one another."
A chill entered Gu Shaoan's voice as he painted that dreadful picture of the future.
Just imagining the scenes Gu Shaoan described made Zhou Zhiruo shiver inside.
"If someone could harm a fellow disciple for personal gain today, tomorrow they could betray all of Emei for an even greater prize."
"If that spark isn't stamped out at once with a thunderous hand, it will spread out of control, and it'll be too late for regret. A hundred-year legacy could collapse completely, one act of 'mercy beyond the rules' at a time, as the ironclad rules were chipped away again and again."
"As Sect Leader, Master bears responsibility for Emei. Could she bear to let it fall into decline under her watch? If you were Sect Leader, knowing the risks, would you still spare Second Senior Sister?"
Zhou Zhiruo's face had paled. She was beginning to understand the gravity of it.
Seeing her expression, Gu Shaoan spoke with even greater solemnity.
"So what Master did today wasn't simply a question of whether she could bear to do it."
"She was carrying out a Sect Leader's inescapable duty: rooting out a threat capable of destroying the sect, no matter who that threat was."
Miejue wasn't a heartless person.
At least before matters involving the Ming Cult came into play, Miejue's moral standards had been high.
Otherwise, despite knowing what Ding Minjun was like, she wouldn't have let Ding Minjun throw her weight around in the Emei Sect.
Miejue had personally killed a disciple she had raised for more than twenty years and spent every day with. Gu Shaoan could clearly sense how much it hurt her.
But in Miejue's heart, even her own life mattered far less than Emei's century-old legacy.
How much less, then, did a single disciple matter?
Miejue had killed Ding Minjun with a single palm strike. It looked ruthless, but in truth she was fulfilling the highest duty of a Sect Leader: upholding the rules so the sect could stand in the world, and eliminating internal threats so it could grow stronger.
The position of Sect Leader had never been one a tenderhearted person could hold. Whoever occupied it sometimes needed the sharpest judgment and the most unyielding face.
Someone concerned only with personal ties was a chieftain caught up in the grudges and passions of the martial world.
It was hard enough for one person to make their way through the martial world. How could it be easy for a Sect Leader to lead a whole group through it?
Founding a sect earned people respect and support, but only the founder knew how much hardship lay behind it.
Even a master like Zhang Sanfeng was held back by Wudang and had been unable to go down the mountain freely for years.
At last, Gu Shaoan's tone turned solemn.
"Those who hold office must fulfill its duties. As Sect Leader of Emei, Master is destined to set an example for the sect. Many things are beyond her control, yet she has no choice but to do them."
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